A Winterly Closure
by Fire-san
Summary: The winter season has just started. Not only is it memorable because of the winter holidays, New Year celebrations and the joyful atmosphere that comes along with it, but also because it will serve as a reason to give a certain person the initiative to do something for the other. Set during college and Rated T due to violence and some swearing.
1. Warm and Cozy?

**A/N:** Finally, I'm back after a two year hiatus! I am deeply sorry for those who were anticipating for the update of my other stories, I don't think I can continue it anymore. The reasons are: I forgot how the plot goes, I lost interest in it, and life gets in the way. But anyway, I've come up with this story that I'm surely positive that I can finish before or during November. (No promises, though.) If you've found any grammatical mistakes or errors, please don't hesitate to point it out, I don't mind. Okay, 'nuff said! See y'all at the A/N in the end. Enjoy! :D

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own K-On or any of the characters associated with it, but the story belongs to me. Cover art belongs to fukutarou.

 **Warning:** Rated T due to some swearing.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Warm and Cozy?**

* * *

It is a cold winter night inside the premises of Japan Women's University. The winter air, accompanied by snow, blew rather harshly outside, creating a strong whirring sound that is very much audible and enough for a person to wake up from deep slumber. Most of the students are now asleep, while others are trying their best to cuddle up in their blankets, hoping to fend off the cold.

Inside the room of a certain drummer, a member of Houkago Tea Time to be exact, a tawny-haired girl who is lying on the bed just woke up after a loud gust of chilly air hit her room windows forcefully.

Tainaka Ritsu groggily rubbed her eyes off to shake off the remains of her drowsiness. She looked around her room to find that everything is pitch black. The drummer clumsily reached for the lamp's button to illuminate the dark confines of the room.

After she turned it on, the tawny-haired girl covered her eyes to avoid being blinded by the sudden light.

By the time her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she got up, yawned, and stretched her arms high in the air to become fully awake.

The first thing that hit her senses hard is that she needs to take her nature call. And so, the brunette went to the bathroom to alleviate her needs. Soon after, Ritsu checked herself out in the bathroom mirror. Currently clad in pajamas, headband-less and her light brown hair sticking out everywhere, she got a hair brush and fixed it as quickly as possible.

The brunette got out of the bathroom, then, she heard a grumble.

It stunned her abruptly, but after a few seconds, she realized that the source came from her stomach.

"Oh great, I'm hungry. I wonder what I have in the fridge?" The brunette mumbled to herself, trekking her way towards the fridge, opening it to find...

...Nothing.

The girl sighed exasperatedly.

 _'Why the hell didn't I buy anything earlier to fill up the fridge? Geez, I truly am an idiot.'_ Ritsu sighed again and began scratching her head in annoyance.

After her little hunger-induced tantrum, the brunette went back to her room to get dressed up for a short trip to the nearest supermarket.

A few minutes later, the drummer is now fully cloaked in winter attire to fight the cold, excluding her headband, because the frigid temperature will just freeze her poor forehead off. After checking everything that she needs to bring; wallet, scarf, room keys, and her orange backpack, she is now good to go.

Ritsu opened the door, got out, and locked the room.

 _'I wonder if everyone's asleep right now?'_ The drummer thought as she silenced her steps towards the stairs.

As if right on cue, she heard loud snoring coming from the one and only Hirasawa Yui's room.

The drummer sweatdropped and chuckled.

* * *

As soon as the brunette got down to the first floor of the dormitory, she opened to entrance door, only to be greeted by the intensity of the cold wind. Ritsu shivered a little and braved the wind to get outside.

The brunette is awestrucked at current scenery befalling her; everything is covered in frosty white snow, the never-ending snowfall chilling the atmosphere. Some of the ground is covered with the warm patch of orange lights coming from the street posts.

Not wanting to dwindle any further, the brunette started shuffling her feet towards the nearest market.

The crunching of snow under her feet is what keeps Ritsu's thoughts away from her increasing hunger and the rumbling of her stomach. To lighten up her journey, she hummed the tune of Fuyu no Hi, but as she did so, the girl blushed a bit.

Now that drummer thought of it, the lyrics are really cheesy, but she paid no mind to it right now.

Thirty minutes have passed by, she finally arrived at her destination and hastily went inside to get what she needs.

The tawny-haired girl quickly went to the foods section to buy some snacks, drinks, and some chocolate powder so she can make a warm chocolate drink tonight.

By the time she got what she needs, Ritsu went to the counter to check out the items.

After the clerk scanned everything, she said, "That'll be three hundred fifty yen."

Ritsu rummaged through her coat's pockets to find the wallet and took out five hundred yen and handed it over. The clerk happily took the bill and gave the charge in return. "Thank you and come again."

The drummer nodded and took the plastic containing the edibles and stuffed it inside her bag. She got outside again and briskly made her way back to the dormitory.

* * *

After a few minutes passed by, the wind is now blowing more intense, making it harder for the girl to step any further. But, the brunette is stubborn, so she kept her pace.

But, no matter how hard she tried, her headstrong pace is now starting to dwindle down along the harsh billow of air. As if forcing Ritsu to stop, the chilly wind unleashed a strong galestorm towards her.

Realizing the abrupt change of weather, the drummer came to this conclusion, "Damn, I didn't know that a snowstorm's gonna happen tonight!" The brunette shielded her face with her arms from the intimidating gust of air.

 _'I need to look for an alleyway to escape from this stupid snowstorm!' Ritsu huffed and puffed as she went back down the path that leads back to the grocery store, the force of the wind pushing her movements faster. As of now, she is the only person occupying the streets, meaning, most of the people knew of the approaching bad weather._

 _'Crap, I should've listened to the weather news channel earlier. But, why the hell didn't the store clerk inform me earlier? That lady must've been busy working that she didn't even know.'_ Ritsu thought infervently.

As the brunette passed by the grocery store, she went down the path further, looking for an alleyway that will somehow lead her back to the dormitory. The atmosphere is getting more frigid and is pushing farther away from the zero temperature.

Ritsu continued to run to save her own life, until...

...Not too far away, the girl spotted an alley opening that will save her from the impending danger of freezing to death in the snowstorm.

The tawny-haired girl grunted and swiftly dashed through the alleyway to avoid another sheer force of the wind.

The snowstorm whirred horrendously once again by the time the drummer got inside the alley. "Phew, that was close!" She exclaimed.

With the thoughts of freezing to death seemingly going away, the girl placed her hands on her knees and panted hard.

After a few minutes of taking a breather, Ritsu recomposed herself by dusting off the snow on her gray winter coat and readjusting her light blue scarf that somehow managed to untangle itself from her neck.

Even under the current circumstances she's in, her stomach grumbling didn't subside. That was when she remembered that she hadn't ate anything, yet. And so, the drummer went a bit further into the snow-coated alleyway and took a seat to consume some of the food that she'd bought earlier.

"I'll take some potato veggies straws, for now." Ritsu mumbled to herself as she propped open a small container full of veggie straws that can fill up her stomach a pinch. As the drummer munched away the goodies, she also opened a milk coffee in a can to satiate her taste buds. The tawny-haired girl took her time to eat as she looked back at the alleyway opening to see that the blizzard kept raging on.

While chewing the snacks, the girl chuckled humorlessly at herself because her she is now, surviving the harsh winter night far away from the dorm, her comfort zone.

If her friends ever saw her here, slumping down the cold, hard ground, they'll think she's a damn hobo begging for alms, and the small container of the veggie sticks will serve as the container for her imaginary alms.

 _'I wonder what they're doing right now?'_ Ritsu pondered to herself as she thought of her friends and band members that are at the dorm right now, sleeping the night away without giving a care in the world. _'Damn, now I'm getting jealous! I just want to go back to my own room and sleep, but I can't right now.'_

A sudden realization hit her head.

 _'I don't think Mio can sleep tonight 'cause of the weather and 'cause she's also a scaredy cat. Haha!'_ The drummer chuckled heartily until the weight of her current situation brought her down to reality.

Ritsu grabbed her phone from her pocket to check the time, it stated: 1:17 am.

She sighed.

* * *

Biting onto the last piece of snack, Ritsu crumpled and chucked away the snack's wrapper inside her bag, along with the coffee in a can she had just finished.

The drummer stood up and dusted herself off once again, and then inspected her surroundings to check if there are any suspicious people watching her from the shadows.

Fortunately, after thoroughly inspecting the place, there are no people present along the alley, so she's fine.

The tawny-haired girl shivered a bit because of the constant drop of the temperature, so she dug her face further into her scarf, her long golden locks obscuring her features, and placed her hands back in her pocket. *

She decided to explore the other end of the passageway. So, slowly but carefully, started trudging her footsteps along the pathway to the other side. The path is very spacious, so she can move as freely as she wanted to.

Scrunch, shuffle, crunch.

After a few minutes of walking the path, the girl could've sworn that she saw something bright at the end of the alley.

Ritsu squinted her eyes further to deduce the glowing object. She got closer and closer, until she heard loud laughter coming from the bright and warm source.

The brunette gasped inwardly at her own newfound discovery.

The source of light is coming from the oil barrel that is containing the fire itself, warming a few people that are seating nearby. Further than that, the path ends there because it is secluded by the back side of the buildings.

"Dude, we should've went back to our crib, it's warmer back there!" A man with unruly black hair shouted as he tried his best to wrap his body as smallest as possible near the heat source.

Another guy, with his hair dyed red, laughed at the black haired man's antics. "What, are you dumb? We can't just go back with this goddamn snowstorm freezing our asses off." The red-haired man who said that is leaning on the building wall with his hands wrapped behind his head.

Lastly, another man who hasn't spoken yet just stared on and guffawed at the statement.

"What the hell are you guys laughing at?!" The black-haired guy shouted again at his companions.

The drummer focused her vision onto some objects that are strewn haphazardly on the ground.

But, before she can even see it clearly, the red-haired man noticed her presence and glared heartlessly at her.

"Hey boy, what're you doing here? This is our turf!" The red-haired thug spoke bitterly. He got off his leaning position, faced the drummer, and proceeded to stand tall. His height is overshadowing the brunette's own figure.

Ritsu plastered on her emotionless face and thought, _'Did he just call me a "boy"? So, I really am unrecognizable without my headband on.'_

The black-haired rogue who was complaining about earlier stood as well and glared daggers at the intruder. "Yo, get out or you wouldn't wanna face trouble."

 _'Psh, says the one who was chickening out because of the weather earlier.'_ The girl thought as she laughed inwardly, their menacing statures never bothering her.

The unspoken man, with blond hair, is the last one to stand up. Ritsu eyed him, inspecting his height and his body build. The blond has a lanky body structure, despite his tall height.

"Aren't you gonna speak up, or are you a coward not to say anything?" The blond thug spoke up, his voice is rough and raspy that is caused by his silence earlier.

"I could say to you the same thing." Ritsu finally spoke as well, her voice doesn't have the usual high-tone pitch that she frequently uses when she speaks freely with her friends; her tone is plain and monotonous.

The blond frowned angrily and picked up his baseball bat, "Are you trying to piss me off? Get the fuck off of our place or else you'll get it!" The rogue held the bat in his right hand at slammed it hard onto his left palm.

The brunette thought of her options, _'Well, since I can't get back to my dorm 'cause of the blizzard, I might as well make myself as cozy as possible at their oil drum fireplace, but I can't do it because they're being asses to me right now.'_

"So, aren't ya gonna get out, or what?" The black-haired man spoke, his patience is starting to wear thin.

 _'There's only one way to settle all this crap.'_ The drummer grinned wickedly, her eyes are unreadable and her face wore a dark aura that is creepy enough to unnerve the raven-haired thug.

"I wanna make myself cozy with that fire of yours. So, can I?" Ritsu glared at the man and readjusted her scarf to get a better field of vision.

"Well, if that's what you want, you're gonna have to get through us first!" The raven-haired thug grabbed his knife from his pocket and pointed it towards their trespasser, while the other two held onto their baseball bats that once occupied the pavement.

 _'Alright, so the guy has a knife, while those two have their bats. I think I can handle them just fine.'_ The drummer readied her stance and positioned herself so that she can get a preemptive strike on one of them.

The black-haired man waited no further and decided to lunge first, his fierce scream becoming more and more intense as he ran towards her.

 _'Tonight's gonna be a long, long night.'_ The brunette grinned and shifted her stance to prepare for the sudden attack.

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright! That sums up the first chapter of the story. I know that it's too early to make a winter fic, but who cares? I don't wanna go through Nightmare before Christmas. (November before December lol)

Side note, if some of you noticed, I placed an asterisk (*) after that specific sentence. The reason behind it is when I was writing that part, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5 suddenly shook our house for a minute. My God, the way I got dizzy after that lol. I even threw me off the mood to continue typing that night, so I resumed it the other day.

Oh boy, next's chapter's gonna be epic, so stay tuned!

Also, if you've found any grammatical mistakes or errors, please don't hesitate to point it out, I don't mind.

Lastly, be sure to follow/review, it helps me out a lot and I highly appreciate it. B)


	2. Heated Belligerence

**A/N:** Sup? I'm back with Chapter 2! I've written it a bit longer this time, because I have a lot of ideas in my head that I need to type down. Thank you for the reviews, favs, and follows, btw! I really appreciate it. :D If you've found any grammatical mistakes or errors, please don't hesitate to point it out, I don't mind.

Okay, I'll see you all at the bottom A/N. Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own K-On or any of the characters associated with it, but the story belongs to me. Cover art belongs to fukutarou.

 **Warning:** Rated T due to violence and some swearing.

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Heated Belligerence**

* * *

The blizzard relentlessly raged outside the alleyway, further burrowing the streets in snow, making it hard for anyone to cross, well, if some are daring and insane enough to do it in the midst of a snowstorm in the first place.

Then, all of a sudden, a fight is starting to unfold inside the alleyway, with a certain drummer getting mixed up into it.

It is the starting mark of an intense action after the brunette swiftly dodged the dark-haired rogue's sudden barrage, making the latter stumble in his footing. Soon after, the two other members of the gang ran towards the drummer, prepping their baseball bats to hit their target.

On the other hand, Ritsu easily evaded the wooden bats that were aimed for her and decided to make her move.

The girl is thankful that she taught herself some useful self-defense and fighting techniques back in the past, considering the boyish girl she is. Her childhood experience of fighting off other kids that were picking on Mio back in the past added drastically to her not-so-obvious violent background.

Just as the blond guy swung his bat again, the drummer went in for an abrupt uppercut to stop him in the process, despite his tall height. An audible crack sound can be heard from the man's jaw.

"Damn, that hurts!" The slim guy cursed under his breath as he placed his left hand onto his affected jaw.

' _Looks like he lowered his guard down, now's my chance!'_ The fierce brunette launched herself towards the slender man that still has his guard lowered down. The girl raised her right fist to plant a powerful punch towards the guy, but the red-haired man intervened her in the midst of it.

"Tei, do it now!" The dark-haired man that was standing by shouted at his member after seeing that the latter is trying to get the upper hand in the fight. He continued to smirk sadistically while he watched the scenes unfold.

"Alright! Down you go, asshole!" Tei, the red-haired guy, swung his bat downwards with full force towards the girl's head. The drummer sensed it, so, before the baseball bat made contact with her head, Ritsu blocked it with her left arm to prevent him from doing so.

The drummer tried her best not to scream in pain, so, the only evidence she left is the grimacing look plastered on her face.

' _Holy crap, it hurts like hell!'_ After screaming internally, Ritsu wore her tough facade, so that her enemies wouldn't see her weak exterior.

Tei took this as an advantage and swung the bat once again. But, it was unsuccessful this time, because the girl grabbed hold of it and mustered all her strength to yank it away from the man's hands.

A few unsuccessful tries later, the brunette managed to pull it off, adjusted her grip on the object, and swayed it with so much brute force onto the red-haired guy's stomach.

The victim let out a pain-induced scream while stumbling backwards. Ritsu grinned devilishly in delight due to the result of the expected outcome.

' _Two down, one to go.'_

"Shiro, kick his ass while I recover from this goddamn pain!" Tei shouted at the black-haired rogue while resting both his hands onto his pained stomach.

The last man standing got seriously angry by the fact that his friends are down and injured because of this stranger that just showed up out of nowhere and started beating them up like there's no tomorrow.

"Raagh! You're gonna pay for what you did to them!" Shiro sprinted, equipped his small dagger and briskly jumped onto the girl before she could even dodge it.

A loud thud can be heard from the drummer's body as she hit the pavement, hard. Fortunately, she didn't hit her head, so she's still lucky.

But, before she can actually recover from the attack, a knife was pointed at her face. As if luck was on her side, the brunette skillfully but unconsciously grabbed the attacker's arm to slow down its movement.

Unfortunately, the attacker is gaining the upper hand, and so, the knife is nearing in dangerously a few inches away from the girl's right cheekbone.

Ritsu is starting to lose her tough composure and her arms are starting to go numb, therefore, slowly submitting to the knife that is threatening to slash her face.

The distance went from inches to centimeters, with the danger looming closer and closer to her face until...

...Slice.

The brunette quickly registered the pain coming from her right cheekbone and her own body's defense mechanism suddenly acted up by quickly grabbing the man's arms before head-butting him in the face to throw him off of her.

' _Looks like Mio's habit of hitting me on the head didn't go to waste, after all.'_

Shiro wobbled back as he hastily stood up to send another wave of offensive strikes back at her.

But, he is rather unfortunate as the tawny-haired girl beat her to it by striking him with the bat she'd picked up earlier, then sending a right punch straight to his face.

It is now the dark-haired man's turn to fall from the impact this time and lost his grip on the weapon in the process.

The girl agilely took the opportunity to sit on top of him. The next thing that happened is that he got cornered with several nimble punches towards his face.

A dark and evil aura emitted from the girl's stature as she prepared for her last jab. Her eyes are cloaked in devilishly bright yellow and spoke roughly, "This is for ruining my face!" Ritsu grunted as she raised her right fist high in the air, before roaring and laying the smack down onto the poor victim's face.

Soon after, the result is that the dark-haired guy got knocked out in cold and in fear.

Ritsu rose up and shakily dusted of her coat filled with snow from the ground. She inhaled and exhaled, before taking a glance at the remaining members of the gang.

' _Once again, one down, and two to go.'_ The brunette sighed and glared at the two who just recovered from pain and agony. She just wanted to end the violence as soon as possible.

Oh, the irony.

"Let's kick his ass up the way it's 'posed to be! C'mon, Hibiki!" The tall red-haired man regained his strength while he took a breather earlier, now he is ready to fight again.

The slim blond man, Hibiki, nodded and prepared to strike the bat at the drummer once more.

The brunette is now ticked off at the repetitive scheme unfolding over and over, so the next thing she did is that she grabbed her own bat, swung it at the other attacker's wooden bat and knocked it off his grasp. The said object landed a few meters away from them.

Smirking triumphantly, Ritsu threw her own bat far away from anyone's reach.

"I'm getting tired of all this crap, so I'm just gonna have to beat both of you, ASAP!" Ritsu slammed her right fist onto her left palm, cracking it afterwards.

The drummer aimed for Hibiki first, so she got back into action and sprung her right leg into a swift roundhouse kick straight to his jaw, again.

The slim man got thrown off balance and fell hard on the snowy pavement, knocked out cold.

"Looks like you're the only one left." The brunette puffed out after returning back to her normal stance.

Tei is shocked at the turn of events while he glared at the girl and spat something ironic, "No shit, Sherlock!"

"So, whose ass are you gonna kick today?" Ritsu started to return back to her normal attitude, smirking and teasing the man while retaining some of her unnerving personality.

"You, a-hole!" Tei growled and firmly kept his fighting spirit, even though he's the one next on her bucket list.

The tawny-haired girl took a brief glance at the two knocked out men and smirked again. "You just saw that I one-hit KO'ed your friend back there, right? Still wanna go?" She jabbed a thumb at the unconscious blond rogue laying on the frosty pavement.

"Stop fucking talking and get on with it!" The red-haired guy threw a series of punches at the girl, in which the latter skillfully evaded one by one.

But, the assailant wouldn't stop jabbing until he hits his target. Soon after, while avoiding Tei's fists, Ritsu lost balance of her footing because of a lone rock behind her, so the man finally got his chance to hit her on the face.

Ritsu skidded backwards due to the impact, her world a bit shaky and disorganized from the effect. What affected her most is that the rogue punched her directly at her knife wound earlier on her right cheek, thus, worsening the pain tenfold.

The girl hissed in pain, her fresh wound started to produce some red liquid out of it. She shakily wiped it off and gasped hard.

Tei saw this and laughed mercilessly. Thinking that the brunette is off-guard, he tried kicking her in the stomach to further disorganize her state.

Unfortunately for him, Ritsu saw it coming and took hold of his foot and pulled him forward to throw him off balance to the ground. The brunette grabbed his other foot and proceeded to swing him in a circular motion.

Tei realized what is going to happen next if the drummer continues swinging him. Once he felt that his whole body is lifted off the ground because of the momentum, he tried his best to stop her, in the form of words. "W-Wait! What're you doing? Stop!"

"No can do!" Ritsu is practically enjoying this, it's a good thing that she knows how to fight creatively.

The momentum continued on, so, after a minute, the man is now feeling queasy inside. "Ah shit, I feel dizzy!"

"Is that so? Okay, I'm letting go in 3..." The drummer grinned victoriously even though she herself is also in a state of vertigo.

The tawny-haired girl quickened her pace to give the man a bodacious grand finale. "2..."

Tei is trying his best to fend of the queasiness inside, because of that, he couldn't speak anymore.

And so comes the last countdown.

"1..." The brunette shouted the number before giving the word signal, "...Bombs away!"

Ritsu removed her grip from the man's footing, afterwards, she heard a loud thud a few meters away from her.

The girl's vision is spinning and so is her head. Ritsu stood firmly on her feet, letting her vertigo subside with the help of time.

As soon as she felt better, the girl decided to take a look at the outcome. The crunching under her foot accompanied her for a few seconds, until it halted.

When she saw that the red-haired man is still conscious, the girl spoke up, "So, can I have your awesome fireplace now?"

"Sure... do whatever you... want." Tei weezed out, finally giving in to the victorious girl's wishes.

After a few more seconds, feeling overwhelmed by the spinning motion and body pain, he passed out quietly.

Sensing a well-earned triumph, she did a little victory dance to commemorate her celebration and pumped her fists proudly in the air.

* * *

Ritsu sat near the warm source, peering over the alley entrance every now and then to check if the snowstorm has finally let up. But, sadly, the blizzard is still making a monstrous of a snowy mess outside.

As for the thugs, Ritsu took care of them earlier by carefully sitting them near the walls, so that, if someone goes inside the alleyway, they wouldn't suspect a thing or two about the ordeal. She also picked up the baseball bats and the knife and hid it somewhere safe, so they wouldn't have anything to use against her, if ever they wake up that time.

Luckily for her, they still haven't woken up from deep slumber.

After the fight, the brunette finally registered all the pain that she successfully ignored earlier; her left arm, bleeding cheek, face, and especially her knuckles. The tawny-haired girl took off her gray coat to observe her throbbing left arm.

The girl isn't too surprised at the outcome; the lower part of her left arm is all blackened and bruised up. When the drummer touches the injury, it sends an intense wave of pain back at her.

"I'm really thankful that I didn't use this arm too much earlier. But, I'm gonna need to cover this up in bandages later." Ritsu said while hissing in gritted teeth.

After inspecting her arm, she went through her face next. She grabbed her phone from her coat and flicked it open to serve as a temporary mirror.

Ritsu saw her face easily in the reflection with the help of the fire's illumination.

Her right cheek is a bit swollen from the jab she received earlier and the cut she got is still bleeding, but it isn't really serious, because the cut is just a few centimeters and it is easily concealable with a band aid. She wiped the blood off with her hand after the observation.

The brunette turned on her phone to check the time: 3:27 am, Saturday.

"Thank God it's Saturday. If not, I don't think I'll be able to attend the first period of that day, haha..." The girl chuckled to herself as she thought of the possibility.

Now that the tawny-haired girl finally eased her mind off of violence, her mind pondered back to the dormitory.

' _I hope that they didn't find out that I'm not inside my room.'_ Ritsu thought nervously of the high probability for it to happen.

* * *

After an hour has passed, Ritsu stood up from the comfortable oil drum fireplace and stretched her arms to wake her body senses.

The snow storm finally dispersed from existence, giving the brunette a chance to go back to her dormitory.

The drummer passed by the men who are yet to wake up into consciousness. But, the girl isn't really worried about them, because her strikes aren't really serious and besides, they're thugs and they tried to overwhelm her earlier.

Putting that aside, upon closer inspection near the entrance, the snow below is ordered in an ascending state, making it easier for her to walk up the snow. It is a good thing that the brunette wore her snow boots before leaving her room last midnight.

Once she stepped outside, her footwear sunk a few inches in the frost. Everything outside is a white and gloomy mess; the roads are not plowed and are buried in the snow, the shops' metallic roll-down shutters are covered in white from top to bottom, and all of the buildings' bottom foundations are strewn with white mass all over.

The only things that are accompanying her right now are the soft, warm glow coming from the street post directly above her and the solemn, continuous snowfall. The familiar illumination of the sun isn't present in the sky yet, signaling that it is still early in the morning.

The drummer started her journey back to the dormitory, the safe haven that will seclude her away from all this disarray.

She puffed out white clouds of breath every now and then. The snow crunching and shuffling under her feet is somewhat soothing and relaxing to her auditory perception.

The notion continued on for a good span of forty five minutes, until she finally saw the familiar building that she has been dying to get back to ever since a few hours ago.

Ritsu grinned in relief when she finally made it back, alive.

* * *

As she was merrily strolling up the stairs and hallways back to her room, the brunette gasped when she spotted Mio, clad in pajamas, in front of her room's door, knocking. Ritsu hid behind the wall to avoid being spotted, she wouldn't want her best friend to see her in this disheveled and messed up state.

' _Oh no, what am I gonna do?'_ The drummer started to sweat nervously when she thought of her options.

The amber-haired girl slowly crept to the edge of the wall, peering over to see if the ravenette has finally left.

But, much to her dismay, the dark-haired girl is still fixated in her spot.

"That idiot, how can she even sleep through the whole snowstorm last night?" Mio groaned as she is nearing the edge of her patience in knocking on her childhood friend's door.

Knock, knock...

Then, the last knock was all it took for the black-haired beauty to give up trying, for now.

The ravenette sighed and slowly dropped her arm back to her side. "I guess I should try again later."

With that, the bassist quietly walked back inside her own room next to the brunette's.

Sensing an opportunity, the drummer's ochre eyes flashed and hastily but silently dashed through the corridor. Once she reached the front of her room's door, she quietly fumbled for the keys in her pocket whilst looking around to see if anyone spotted her. Feeling the metallic outline of the needed object, Ritsu grabbed it and slid it over the doorknob's keyhole and carefully twisted it open.

After hearing the clicking sound, the tawny-haired girl noiselessly opened the door, then taking a last glance at both of the corridor's sides. Seeing that no one is around, she went inside and silently closed the door.

The drummer shook off her bag and unraveled it to unload the contents; empty food wrappers and containers she had long since consumed, as well as the empty coffee can she chugged last night. Ritsu grabbed the leftovers and threw them away in the trashcan. The chocolate powders remained untampered throughout the whole night. The girl picked it up and placed it over the kitchen counter.

Afterwards, she took the winter coat off, not either bothering to undo the light blue scarf on her neck or change back into her normal clothes.

Soon after, the brunette let her stature collapse onto the comfortable bed, allowing exhaustion and sleep deprivation to take over, before falling deep into a well-deserved slumber.

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright! Ritsu managed to become a badass and lay the smack down on dem bad boys lol. So, I got inspired to finish this chap today. Reason why? It's because I got my grade results earlier and saw that I passed my first hellhole of a semester. Yeah! /m/ Also, I've always wanted to write a fight scene between Ritsu and some bad guys for a long time now, and so, that wish is awesomely granted in this chap.

The next chapter isn't going to include violence anymore. In fact, things are going to become more lighter-themed, so stay tuned! :D

Also, if you've found any grammatical mistakes or errors, please don't hesitate to point it out, I don't mind.

Lastly, be sure to follow/review, it helps me out a lot and I highly appreciate it. B)


	3. Incertitude and Warmth

**A/N:** Oh man, I thought I'll never have the time to continue this. As usual, life got in the way, making me busier than usual. It's a good thing that we have Christmas vacation in the second semester, giving me the time to get on with this story. I'm sorry for those who waited, so here's the third chapter, longer even with the last two chapters combined.

Do watch out for any grammatical mistakes though, I highly apologize for that.

Anyway, enough rant, I hope you all enjoy. :)

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own K-On or any of the characters associated with it, but story belongs to me. Cover art belongs to fukutarou.

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Incertitude and Warmth**

* * *

The soft light started to slowly seep through the window's transparency, illuminating the small confines of the room the drummer is in. The person mentioned is still sleeping soundly on the bed, not giving a care even if her blanket is strewn haphazardly on the floor, depriving her of warmth.

However, as soon as the soft warm light made contact with her face, the girl hesitantly opened her eyes and tried to gaze at the white source, well, tried. Her vision is still unfocused due to her slumber earlier, and so, the brunette rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly. She stared at the white ceiling for a while before moving her body to get up.

But, her body doesn't want to cooperate with her intentions, instead, it sent a wave of pain to her senses. That was when Ritsu realized the events that transpired last night.

' _Fought, got injured, beat a-holes, chillin' at the oildrum bonfire... Yep, that sums up about everything.'_ The tawny-haired girl thought and sighed.

Ritsu shifted her body to a more comfortable position to relax in order to ease the muscles she overused and strained during the brawl.

After a few minutes, the girl finally got up successfully and stretched her arms to further alleviate the pain. She gazed at the window, which is the source of light, and nonchalantly shifted towards it. The drummer pushed the curtains aside, revealing a white and frosty environment outside.

' _Of course, nothing too surprising here.'_ The ochre-haired girl stared on blankly, her eyes showing no interest at all.

The girl started to trek back to make her bed, but before that, she passed by the room's mirror and her vision soon fell onto her ragged appearance. That was when she finally realized something; she didn't change back into her sleepwear last night.

The brunette is thinking about taking a bath first before getting dressed, or just directly changing into her clothes.

' _I think it's too cold to take a bath right now, so, I should just get dressed already.'_ Ritsu pondered while unconsciously nodding her head at the option.

She opened the wardrobe and took a black shirt with the word 'Rock' and some stars plastered on it, and fleece shorts to cope with the cold temperature. Soon after, she took off her scarf and carefully placed it aside, and began to change her clothes into more comfortable ones.

After that, Ritsu tossed the dirty clothes into the laundry hamper before picking up her scarf to tuck it back in the closet. However, upon closer inspection, she spotted that her muffler has some major tears and holes in it, voiding it of its usefulness.

The drummer widened her eyes in shock and said, "What the hell? How'd this happen? M-My favorite scarf... is ruined."

She thought back on some possibilities as to why it happened. True enough, it happened during the ordeal, but who did it?

After some wistful pondering, the girl came to a conclusion that the one who did it is the man with black hair, Shiro, whose knife tore through the light blue clothing when they were fighting for the upper hand.

"Great, that jerk ruined my scarf and this is the only freaking scarf I have right now!" Ritsu lowered her tone when she realized that her early morning ranting can disturb and awaken nearby students that are sleeping, most especially, her friends.

Even so, the brunette decided to leave the scarf topic for now, the stated item is now folded and placed on her bed. The drummer diverted her attention back to her wounds. She walked back to the mirror to inspect the bruise on her left arm; it is still darkened and swollen in terms of appearance, so she grabbed some bandages from the drawer near the mattress.

"It's a good thing that I brought some just in case." She muttered as she picked the small rolled-up medical item and began unraveling its end to wrap around the injury. While doing so, the drummer took careful measures not to apply too much pressure onto the arm to avoid any unwanted pain.

By the time she's done, Ritsu took some tiny bandage clips and plastered it onto the end of the strip to seal it in place. Her next one to tend to is the cut on her right cheek. She grabbed a band-aid from the same drawer and went to the bathroom to wash her face. After that, she peeled the band-aid and placed it onto the small laceration on her cheek.

Now that all her wounds are tended, the drummer skipped back to the closet in order to grab a gray hoodie jacket that will hide her bandaged arm.

Ritsu took one last look on the mirror to check herself out, "Wow, I look like a character from a fighting game or something." She muttered in interest. The girl chuckled to herself shortly after that, then, she struck some amusing poses in the mirror, like pumping her fist, posing into some funny fighting stances, and lastly, doing a swift but successful kung-fu kick in the air. The fighter-esque drummer cackled softly due to her stupid antics.

After her soft laughs died down, the girl wore her hoodie on, finally feeling the warmth that her body needed in this cold temperature.

Just when the tawny-haired drummer felt her mood easing up, she heard audible knocks coming from the door. Hearing that, the girl quietly scuffled aimlessly around her room, hiding everything that will possibly provide evidences leading to last night; bandages, clothes, and the scarf lying on the bunk is thrown blindly underneath it.

Seeing that the coast is clear, Ritsu went to the door and opened it slowly to reveal the visitor. Once her amber eyes caught sight of the person, she isn't surprised one bit...

...Because the so-called visitor is none other than Mio, her best friend.

"Ah, finally, you woke up. Good morning." The bassist greeted the drummer softly.

Sensing the friendly intention, the brunette wore her usual cheeky grin and greeted back, "Yo, mornin'." The ochre-haired girl motioned her head to signal her childhood friend to get inside in order to shut the door, so that the cold morning air can't get inside the small, _warm_ , seclusions of her room.

The ravenette sat onto her mattress before speaking, "It's so obvious that you just woke up." Mio pointed her index finger at the messy bed.

The brunette scratched the back of her head, as if she was caught red-handed. "Well, I was going to fix it earlier, but you knocked on the door before I had the chance to do it." Ritsu chuckled as she sat on the wooden floor, eyeing the other girl sitting on the bed. The black-haired girl is now wearing a dark green sweatpants, topped with black sweater.

Since today is a Saturday, the bassist doesn't have any classes scheduled, in fact, Houkago Tea Time, as well as Onna Gumi, are intentionally vacant during Saturdays, so that they can all hang out together.

Mio smiled a little at her rambunctious friend's statement. She basked in the pleasant morning mood before getting back to the reason why she visited her best friend's room early in the morning.

"Didn't you hear that I was knocking on your door earlier this morning?" Mio stated, looking irritably at her best friend's dumbfound-like expression.

' _Wow, she shifted gears quickly.'_ The drummer sweatdropped at the thought.

The girl in question started to sweat a bit at her current situation and quickly made up a lie, "Nope, I didn't." She plastered the best poker-face expression she could muster to prove her point.

She doesn't want to reveal her secret last night, most especially, _not now._

Mio rolled her eyes and giggled a bit, "You really are a heavy sleeper, even in the middle of a snowstorm, but it isn't surprising at all."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Ritsu laughed and flashed her trademark grin.

The bassist smiled and said, "No, you idiot. What if the snowstorm got so bad and you still haven't woken up, what are you going to do?"

Ritsu's grin grew wider and continued, "Well, I know that you're gonna make sure that I'm still alive if that ever happens, haha!"

Mio shook her head at her energetic companion's predictable statement and rolled her eyes once more. The other girl decided her day wouldn't be complete without her daily dose of teasing and said, "Why were you knocking at my door so early in the morning? ...Is it because you got so scared of the storm?"

The dark-haired girl got a bit off-guard at the last statement and decided to retort back, "N-No, it's because I woke up and noticed that it's really cold inside my room and knocked on your door so that I can borrow your jacket for a while."

' _I can't let her know that I did woke up because I got scared, or else, she'll just tease me more.'_ The tall girl thought strategically.

The drummer feigned sadness for a bit before resuming her teasing, "Oh, is that so? Poor Mio-chuan, I'll just make it up to you by making some hot chocolate for both of us!" She cooed. The bassist fought the urge to hit her on the head, since her childhood friend is trying to annoy her whilst making a good gesture at the same time.

Ritsu skidded to her room's kitchenette to grab ahold of the chocolate powder that is settled on the kitchen counter. After getting it, she went to the mini cupboard that stores her cooking utensils to reach for a small cooking pot. But unfortunately, after pulling it out, some of the kitchenware, which are stacked on the pot, fell onto the floor and created a loud ruckus. Soon after, a large flat pan fell directly onto her face, creating a comical gong-like sound. She tripped on her footing and fell onto her back with a very audible thud, thus, groaning in pain afterwards.

' _Ah great, couldn't have thought of a better way to start the morning!'_ The drummer mentally slapped herself as she slowly rose up to pick up the utensils scattered haphazardly on the floor. Her body is still throbbing in pain as she did so.

The bassist grew worried after hearing all the commotion and spoke, "Ritsu, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I forgot that the utensils are stacked up after taking out a pot." The drummer winced silently as soon as she finished gathering all the kitchenware and plunked it back inside the cupboard.

"Do you want me to help you?" The black-haired girl began to stand up from the mattress to help, but her offer was quickly shot down by the drummer, "No, no, I'm fine, just stay there and let me do the magic."

Mio complied hesitantly, sighed and stayed fixated on her companion's bed, while trying her best to stay as comfortable as possible.

The amber-haired girl started doing her work; situating the pot onto the stove and tearing the chocolate powder open to pour its contents inside the utensil while its sweet, chocolatey aroma whiffed around the room. Afterwards, she grabbed a water container and milk container and poured it as well, then, she opened the stove to let it heat up. Next, the girl fetched for a small ladle to stir the mixture while maintaining the temperature.

Unknown to her knowledge, she was silently being watched by her raven-haired companion all along.

After a while, the hot chocolate is now ready to be served, so the brunette grabbed two mugs and tipped the hot chocolate into it. The girl grabbed the mugs and gave one to the ravenette, thanking her in response before accepting the offer.

Ritsu proceeded to sit on the bed next to her, quietly sipping on her own cup to enjoy the soothing feeling of having sweet liquid warm her body from this cold weather.

As the two enjoyed each other's company in silence, the bassist decided to break the ice, "Ritsu, I've been wanting to say this ever since earlier..."

This caught the drummer attention and spun her head towards the source, "What is?"

"What happened to your cheek?" Mio turned her face to look at the brunette to inspect her cheek closer.

' _Oh crap, just when I was hoping she wouldn't bring it up, but, screw it.'_ Ritsu thought nervously as she tried to keep her cool in front of her best friend. She quickly thought of another excuse to cover it up, "E-Erm, I got this while I was cooking last night. I accidentally cut my cheek with the knife because the vegetable slipped out of my hand, h-haha..." Ritsu sweatdropped and scratched the back of her head.

Mio mouthed an 'Oh' in response, finally understanding the reason behind the cut. "You should be more careful next time." The bassist softly touched the other girl's cheek with her free hand, careful not to make it bleed, because that'll be the last thing that she wanted. Ritsu flinched a bit at the contact and started blushing.

"Does it hurt?" The raven-haired girl spoke gently, unfazed that their distance is too close for comfort, especially for the drummer.

Ritsu is starting to get uncomfortable as the bassist's face continued nearing hers, "N-No, not at all."

Mio continued inspecting her from her bandaged cheek, to her face, then to her hairdo. _'Now that I've noticed it, she isn't wearing her headband right now.'_ She thought, still unaware that her face is inching closer and closer to the latter's.

' _Mio, what are you doing? Argh, this making me feel so weird right now.'_ The amber-haired girl's heart is now beating so fast that she can't keep her breathing stable, her face is now reddish in hue, and she almost dropped her mug due to this.

It took a few more moments for Mio to realize that her face is extremely close to Ritsu's, to the point that their noses are now touching. That was the time she finally backed away from the brunette and flushed furiously. "I-I'm s-sorry."

"Ahah, you just realized that now?" The drummer swiftly turned her face away to continue drinking on the mug, as if nothing happened. But unfortunately, her blushing face is an evidence that she hasn't recovered yet.

"I-I'm just checking out i-if your injury is bad, t-that's all." The ravenette tried to make her excuse convincing, but it faltered because she stuttered.

Ritsu finished gulping the hot chocolate and placed her cup on the bedside table before making a remark, "...And thanks to you that it's bleeding right now." She secretly teased to get back at her because of making her uneasy earlier. It is unbeknownst to the raven-haired girl that the drummer is lying, because she is on the left side of the brunette while the injury is on her right cheek and she can't see it.

After hearing that, the poor bassist's flushing face quickly lost color and almost lost grip on the cup she's holding.

"R-R-Really?" She shakily asked.

"Yes, really." Ritsu mentally smirked whilst keeping her poker face on, wanting where this is going. How cruel.

The drummer is carefully threading on her plan before executing it. She just needs the right timing to do it. But, in order to do so, the black-haired girl needs to finish her hot chocolate, or else, it will be a mess all over.

"You should finish your drink, it's getting cold." The tawny-haired girl nonchalantly stated.

"Oh r-right, I forgot." After finishing the drink, Mio settled the cup on the table in front of her.

The drummer grinned devilishly and as soon as the bassist sat back on the bed...

... the mischievous girl screamed at her, "MIO! The blood is all over my face!"

"KYAH!" The unfortunate girl screamed so loud, that nearby students that are sleeping suddenly woke up from their slumber, with exception of their friends.

That was the brunette's best record of frightening the ravenette as early as possible ever since they entered college...

...The best record of Mio's high-pitched scream...

...And the best record of the number of hits Ritsu received on the head after the black-haired girl found out that she was lying all along.

A very typical morning at the dormitory, indeed.

* * *

After an hour has passed, Mio stood up from the bed, her hands folded in front of her chest. She briskly turned around to face the brunette, who is currently busy reading manga on the floor, and informed her that they have practice later in the clubroom, then afterwards, she closed the door behind her.

She walked her way back to her room. Once inside, she let herself fall onto the soft mattress, sighing as the soft bed hit the full of her back.

As soon as her thoughts are recollected, she groaned exasperatedly afterwards.

"That idiot, she didn't have to do that." The bassist groaned again as her brows are furrowed together.

Mio continued to sulk in the seclusions of her dorm room, "Now, how am I going to explain to the others why I screamed earlier?"

While thinking of a way to distract herself from the earlier events, she found the best way to clear her mind and regain her composure. She hunkered down and reached for the Literature text book neatly placed underneath her bed and began flipping the page to where they last stopped the discussion. As her eyes focused on the texts imprinted on the treatise, the ravenette sat upright and fumbled for a pencil and eraser inside her desk.

The black-haired girl got up and scuffled towards her study chair and desk and started working on her assignment.

As she scribbled down notes and explanations on her textbook, her mind kept on drifting back to the incident earlier.

She couldn't help but blush again at her unusual action earlier, _'Oh my God, I can't believe I did that- No, I didn't know I did that! Our faces are so close we've almost-' T_ he flustered girl stopped her thought right there.

 _Unbeknownst to the drummer, the bassist has been withholding her feelings for her ever since they were in middle school. Sure, it wasn't easy keeping it a secret from everyone, especially to her. She's very lucky that no one pestered her about it due to her shut-out personality with regards to her love life. Well, the lyrics are an exception. Up until now, she is wishing for the drummer to reciprocate her feelings as well. The raven-haired beauty is thinking of confessing to her for a long time now, but she doesn't want to risk the precious friendship the two of them have been building up ever since they met. What if she doesn't feel the same way? What if Ritsu started avoiding her after that? What if she'll never talk to her ever again?_

There are so many pessimistic ' _what ifs'_ swarming inside of her head that she doesn't want to ponder any of the possibilities for now.

Moving aside, the bassist felt a bit suspicious earlier about the drummer's laceration on her cheek. She could've sworn she sensed that the feisty brunette was just lying, because normally the tawny-haired girl doesn't carelessly handle sharp utensils while cooking, or maybe she was just getting too worried about her and overthinks things through. She doesn't know anymore, so, it's for the best to shrug it off, for now.

The black-haired girl just shook her head and retained her focus back on the assignment she's been working on.

* * *

Another hour has passed, and it's time for the Houkago Tea Time to go to their clubroom to practice for their upcoming university festival next month.

Yui, the band's resident airhead, is the first one to excitedly get out of her dorm room to visit her friend's rooms to remind them of their plans for today. The cheery brown-haired girl decided to intrude inside the drummer's room first, because she is the leader of their band, after all.

The guitarist didn't even bothered knocking as she quickly turned the doorknob and slammed the door right open, her sudden course of action scared the living daylights out of the drummer, falling out of her bed in an instant with a loud thump.

The brown-haired girl didn't waste any moment as she hollered at the poor brunette, "Ricchan, hurry up and get up! We have to practice, I can't let Azunyan down because the festival's next month. _Yosh_!" Yui bolted her fist high in the air as she went to the other's rooms to receive the treatment Ritsu got.

Ritsu groaned as she picked up the manga she was reading and flung it on top of the bunk, she scratched her head in annoyance and painfully got up.

"Geez, just what has gotten into that airhead?" She wasn't fazed when she heard Mio's surprised yelp next door.

The tawny-haired girl went over to the room's opening to shut the door before changing her shorts into jeans. She grabbed a pair of socks from the drawer before wearing them over her feet. Afterwards, she scurried over the side of the bed to look for her boots, after successfully locating it, she briskly put them on. Next, she picked up her yellow headband on top of her drawer and proudly donned it.

The drummer went to her desk to grab the keys and her drumsticks before shuffling away from her room, making sure to lock the door before fully leaving.

She nonchalantly walked towards the guitarist who is making a lot of noise in the hallway shortly before head-locking her, abruptly stopping the commotion.

"Private, what's all this about, huh?" Ritsu rubbed her knuckles on top of Yui's head to squeeze out information out of her.

The brown-haired girl giggled in response before replying, "Captain... we have to go to the clubroom to p-prepare for battle... we can't let our subordinate down..." The guitarist continued acting like she was being strangled and resumed her dramatic speech, "...I promised Azu... I mean... our subordinate that we will do our best for the fes... battle..." The actress coughed before feigning death by closing her eyes.

Ritsu decided to play along, so, she crouched down while cradling the fallen brunette before theatrically speaking, "N-No, I murdered... Private... no... why... does the world have to be so cruel!" The so-called Captain shot her head up to increase the dramatic effect. She feigned her sobbing while the guitarist still has her eyes closed and her head slumped on the drummer's lap.

Their act didn't go unnoticed, though.

"Just what are you two idiots doing?" The bassist inquired monotonically as she leaned on the wall, eyeing their usual act amusingly. The keyboardist is just watching in the sidelines while smiling warmly with her eyes twinkling in interest.

The guitarist finally opened her eyes in shock and quickly stood up, "Ah, I almost forgot to bring Gitah!" Yui quickly dashed towards her room to grab the said guitar.

"I didn't expect that answer." Mio sighed as she adjusted the strap of her bass guitar case, housing Elizabeth in it.

"Well, that's Yui for ya." The drummer rose up for the umpteenth time and placed her arms behind her head, but unfortunately, her action caused her left arm to constrict in pulsing pain. The girl procured a visible pained face before briskly disappearing.

Her hurt expression didn't go unnoticed as well.

"Are you okay?" The raven-haired girl's face showed a hint of worry, but she stayed put in her place.

"Yep, Yui's head is heavy that my arm went numb, haha!" The tawny-haired girl chuckled and merely lied to brush it off to avoid attention and ease off the bassist's worried stare.

Surprisingly, the bassist bought it and giggled alongside the drummer.

As if right on cue, the guitarist got out of her room, with Gitah strapped on her back, and sprint walked away from them, making her destination towards the stairs before hollering at them once more, "C'mon guys, let's go!" Yui didn't even bother waiting for her bandmates, for she already descended down the stairs.

"Damn, she's so pumped up about it." The tawny-haired girl sweat-dropped as she mindlessly twirled the one of the drumsticks in her hand.

The bassist, extremely eager to go to the clubroom as well, didn't want to waste this rare opportunity of the guitarist in the excited mood to practice. She wanted to go there as fast as possible in order to catch up with Yui and spend more time honing their musical skills.

"Come on, Ritsu, let's go." Mio grabbed the brunette by her left arm, which is the one that she has been trying to avoid any physical contact with due to the excruciating pain it inflicts. The raven-haired girl forcefully dragged the ochre-haired girl with her towards the staircase.

The drummer screamed internally as she bit back her urge to wince in pain. The only option she can do right now is to bite her tongue and hope for her raven-haired companion to cease her discomforting grip on her poor, bruised arm.

But, as a few more moments have passed, Mio's tight grip on her arm didn't loosen, thus, increasing the painful throbbing sensation in her limb. The feeling is starting to bother Ritsu very badly, she could just forcefully whisk away her arm and tell her that it's injured, but, that would blow away her secret. She's got to do something to avoid skepticism and discomfort.

So, the next thing the drummer girl did, she gently tugged her arm away from the bassist's clutch and slyly grasped the girl's hand and intertwined it with hers.

The sudden action caught the tall bassist off-guard, swiftly looking at the said action and flushed a little bit. She then moved her gray eyes to her friend's unfazed face, who is looking straight ahead.

The drummer showed no signs of sheepishness, the girl just kept her poker face on to mask her true intentions away from her.

The trek towards their destination is quiet, accompanied with breathy huffs and puffs along the way. Their hands are no longer intertwined, but clasped together, as if not wanting to let go of each other.

The blonde-haired _ojou-sama_ is enjoying the perfect view with a pleasant and satisfied smile plastered on her face, as she was quietly walking behind the drummer and bassist.

* * *

Luckily, Houkago Tea Time is the only band inside the clubroom, so they have the space all by themselves. No one can distract them whilst they're practicing, which is a lot in their favor.

The guitarist is already stationed in her place, as well as the bassist and keyboardist. All that's left is the drummer, who is still slumped on the couch lazily as she waited for her bandmates to fully prepare themselves with their instruments. Since there is a drum set specially placed inside the room, she doesn't have to worry about her instrument.

But, what is really dwindling her confidence away is her injury on her left arm. She's afraid that it'll blow her cover once they start the practice.

She questioned herself as to why she didn't back down earlier when she had the chance?

' _I'm an idiot, that's why.'_ The brunette answered her own thought and sighed exasperatedly.

 _The main question is, why is she even hiding it in the first place?_

Not that it'll do her harm once her friends knew about it,but the hard part is explaining _how_ and _why_ it happened.

Well, the only thing she can do in this trapped situation right now is to pray for _Kami-sama_ to guide her whilst their jam session is on-going, most especially, her drumming.

Ritsu unwillingly got up and sluggishly trudged towards the drum set before settling down.

"Let's play _Fuwa Fuwa Time_ first, _minna!_ But, I'll be the one to sing, Mio-chan." Yui faced the unfazed bassist apologetically before looking at the drummer, awaiting for the starting signal of her drumsticks.

The tawny-haired girl nodded before counting down with her drumsticks, albeit hesitantly, "1, 2!" Her voice rang inside the clubroom shortly before being followed by quick and energetic strums from the guitarist, then, followed by the bassist, keyboardist, and the drummer.

Their instruments blended together perfectly in sync with the song and this is fully in favor of the brunette as she forced herself to pound onto the drums with her usual strength to avoid any supposition from her friends whilst they're playing.

The brown-haired girl leading the song is still the same, her innocence can be seen by the way she plays the guitar; naive fingers dashing through the fretboard every now and then to explore and learn. The ravenette's way of playing is shy and reserved, despite that, its deep bass sound is always there to support the other tones and highlight them in place. The keyboardist is still calm and collected in terms of her playing; her serene gracefulness is projected by her fingers waltzing on a key before dancing onto another. Lastly, the drummer's playing is still rushed, but it is brimming with energy and enthusiasm to lead the other sounds to the way it is supposed to be.

But, in the midst of that, the drummer is just enduring something and is trying her best to remain in sync with the others.

' _Damn, my left arm hurts like hell!'_ The drummer gritted her teeth in pain as her hands continued hitting on the cymbals and drums like there's no tomorrow. It is a good thing that she is positioned behind the others, so no one can check up on her and make a fuss about it.

The light and fluffy lyrics, as well as their synchronized instruments, rang and vibrated inside the room for a few more minutes until it was finished.

In the case of the drummer, the bittersweet torment is over, for now.

The chocolate-haired girl huffed as the strings of her cherished guitar finally ceased its reverb. She looked up and flashed a heart-warming smile to her bandmates for a good song warm-up. After a few more moments, the girl finally spoke up, "Mio-chan, how about we play Fuyu no Hi right now?"

"E-Eh?!" This caught the tall bassist off-guard. She shook her head, waved her hands frantically, and kept on loudly denying the suggestion while her face is burning bright red.

" _Maa maa,_ it certainly has been a while since the last time we played it and besides, today is the perfect season for it, _ne_?" The fair-haired keyboardist spoke her opinion in a gentle manner in order to coax the bassist to agree as well.

The tawny-haired girl, on the other hand, is busy stretching her arms high in the air to sooth the still throbbing pain that she wasn't even tuning in to their conversation.

Yui clasped her hands together and mustered the best puppy eyes she can perform and pleaded to the ravenette relentlessly, "C'mon, Mio-chan, please, please?~"

The bassist tried to pry her eyes away from the guitarist to avoid giving in to her non-stop pleadings. She folded her arms, her blush still visible on her face and eyed the drummer sitting on the drum set at the back.

Ritsu's hands are now clasped behind her head as she mouthed a ' _What?'_ at her direction after noticing that the raven-haired girl is staring at her.

Since the drummer doesn't seem to mind about the abrupt suggestion, Mio finally gave a nod to the guitarist, and the latter is now jumping up and down in excitement.

"Yay! I'll be the one to sing again, Mio-chan!" Yui smiled widely as her back faced her bandmates, yet again.

"Okay, that's good." Mio sighed and took a deep breath to relax her heart rate back to normal.

"Ricchan." The brown-haired girl called the drummer to start the signal once again.

"What?" The ochre-haired girl asked again for the second time. She is currently clueless about the next song they're going to practice next, because, she was too absorbed exercising her limbs earlier.

"We're going to play _Fuyu no Hi_ next, are you ready?" Mugi spoke for the guitarist.

"A-Ah, yeah, sure..." She flexed the drumsticks in her fingers as she readied herself for the cue.

' _But why play that song all of a sudden?'_ She nervously counted down, then struck the drums afterwards.

Yui's childish voice echoed across the clubroom, unfazed by the _lyrics_ she's singing. The bassist secretly threw a few glances at the drummer every now and then to see her expression with regards to the song. Too bad the latter is currently occupied with her own problem right now to even notice grey orbs eyeing her observantly.

Well, it seems like it, but deep inside, the drummer is sheepishly brushing off the lyrics out of her mind in order to avoid a certain _memory_ years ago.

The song finished after a few more minutes, it was a very nice and heart-warming song in the midst of a chilly winter day.

But, putting that aside, the tawny-haired girl could've sworn that she felt her left arm throbbing harder, she can compare that to the feeling of finishing a ten meter sprint in just a minute; heart pumping so fast, that her whole body is pulsating alongside the heartbeat. Except, her body isn't throbbing wildly, just her arm.

They took a short break before resuming the session, it's a shame that the keyboardist didn't bring her tea set today, the main reason is for them to focus more into their practice without having to worry about their precious tea time.

They continued their practice with five more songs in line: _Gohan wa Okazu, Samidare 20 Love, U &I, Fude pen Boru pen, _and _Curry Nochi Rice,_ with the guitarist and bassist switching lead roles alternatively in each song.

But, as each song passed by, they could not shake off the feeling that the drummer's rushed beats are getting sloppier and weaker until they reached the end of the song list for that day.

* * *

After packing up their instruments in their respective cases, Houkago Tea Time took a seat on the couch inside the clubroom, still worried about a certain drummer.

"Ricchan, I've been wanting to ask this question ever since we're at the dorm earlier; what happened to your cheek?" The fair-haired _ojou-sama_ curiously glanced at the said person, her formerly pleasant face now tinged with a hint of worry.

' _I sense déjà vu all over.'_ The drummer recalled the time when the bassist asked her the same exact question earlier inside her dorm room.

"Yeah, what happened to your face, Captain? You look like a gangster or something." Yui poked Ritsu's injured cheek repetitively until the tawny-haired girl got annoyed and swatted the offending hand away.

"Shush, Private! Anyway, I explained this to Mio earlier, so, she'll just tell you." The brunette, with her arms crossed, nudged the black-haired girl to oblige to her request.

The bassist sighed exasperatedly and spoke, "This _baka_ right here got too careless with her cooking last night that she accidentally injured her cheek."

The guitarist and the keyboardist mouthed an ' _O'_ in understanding, well, the guitarist barely understood but still nodded in acknowledgement.

"Anyway, are you okay? You look like you lost your energy by the time we reached _Curry Nochi Rice._ " Mio gazed at the brunette with concern etched on her face. Who wouldn't be worried if the drummer suddenly lost her trademark vivacity all of a sudden?

"Yeah, I'm fine. I kinda feel sleepy today, heh." Ritsu casually fibbed for the umpteenth time, all the while sheepishly rubbing the rear of her head.

Mio stared at her for a few seconds, as if finding something from her, before talking, "Well, if that's the case, we should head back to the dorm now." The ravenette bassist advocated to everyone in a no-nonsense way.

All of them slowly rose from their seats while picking their instruments up and slinging over their shoulders. The clubroom feels lonely and empty without the other members, especially Onna Gumi _,_ their rival band. Even their club president, Kana Yoshii, isn't here at the moment.

"It's kinda weird that Akira-chan and the others haven't arrived yet." The airheaded guitarist concluded and pouted, sulking of not having anyone, more specifically, Azusa and Akira, to hug and pet about.

"I heard they went back home for the weekend." Mugi mused softly, despite the irony of carrying an extremely heavy keyboard on her shoulder.

"Hmm, that explains why." Ritsu hummed in response, perfectly blending in with the others even after her shortcomings earlier.

"Our songs feel incomplete without Azunyan backing us up." The chocolate-haired girl sulked further, having no other choice, she childishly hugged the keyboardist, with the latter giggling in response. At least, Yui is now comfy of having a very warm person chipping away the emptiness she's feeling right now.

"For now, let's all pray that she passes her entrance exam next week with JWU as her first choice." The ravenette spoke maturely but monotonically, seemingly and discreetly preoccupied with something that even the others didn't notice.

"Azunyan, do your best, _ne_?" The brown-haired girl, now detached from Mugi, smiled and clasped her hands and subtly prayed for their dear kouhai to truly pass the entrance exam with flying colors.

They all got out of the clubroom and started walking back to the university's dorm.

Their dormitory is a bit far from the clubroom, taking them twenty minutes just by casually walking, but in spite of that, they enjoyed each other's company, followed by typical bantering coming from the drummer and the guitarist. In the midst of their trek back to the dorm, the snow started falling again, although it is gentler than last night. The brown-haired girl tried to catch some snowflakes with her mouth, resulting in a frosty sensation inside her mouth, but in a good way. Meanwhile, the brunette sprinted around, basking in the chilly atmosphere with her hands sprawled widely to get snowflakes more efficiently. The duo's actions caused both of them to burst in fits of laughter, soon followed with giggles coming from the blonde-haired keyboardist, and a warm smile making its way on the bassist's face.

It didn't take long for the drummer to shiver due to the cold weather today, so she threw her thick hoodie over her head and shakily stuff her hands in its pockets. She realized something while they're shuffling across the frost-covered pavement; she's the only one _without_ a muffler on.

The raven-haired beauty noticed this, so she walked closer to the girl and mustered up the courage to do the next daring step.

.

.

.

Mio slowly unraveled her scarf and wrapped it around Ritsu's neck. The latter was surprised when something warm enveloped her neck. She looked up to see the bassist smiling at her with a reassured expression. The drummer looked at her shortly before giving her a toothy grin in response to the kind gesture.

The two of them felt more connected that time.

* * *

 **A/N:** Whew, third chapter done! I hope this'll make up for two months of inactivity. If anyone noticed, I decided to blend in some Japanese words/phrases (which are _italized,_ btw) with their _English_ speeches so that I can get some sort of Japanese vibe from them.

As soon as January starts, I'll be extremely busy again, so don't expect an update from me soon. So much for finishing this story by this month. :(

Anyway, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays everyone! May the New Year give prosper to everyone for new fanfic ideas! (especially Mitsu) *bricked*

 **Extra notes:** _Onna Gumi_ , or Gang of Girls in its English equivalent, is HTT's rival band in K-On's Official College Arc. If you don't know about it yet, do check it out so that you don't feel clueless when I add more characters in the later chapters.

 _If you don't know the meaning of some Japanese words I added in this story, just remember, Google's your friend. ;)_

Lastly, be sure to follow/review, it helps me out a lot and I highly appreciate it. B)


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